'We don't have an army'

2004-04-13 13:19

Zanzibar, Tanzania - Zanzibar's main opposition party on Tuesday denied it was providing members of the group's youth wing with military training and instead accused the ruling party of forming a private militia ahead of next year's elections.

A spokesperson for the Civic United Front, Salim Bimani, rejected an accusation made by home affairs minister Omar Mapuri that the party had set up paramilitary training camps and was training a militia with recruits from the party's youth wing.

"We don't have camps, we don't have an army," Bimani said. He said young people who attend the party's special training programme only learn about politics, jog and perform normal-physical exercise.

Some members of the youth group, known as the Blue Guard, do study karate and judo in order to serve as bodyguards for the party's top leaders, Bimani said. The guards will continue to undergo that type of training, he added.

Senior members of both the Zanzibari and Tanzanian government have accused the Civic United Front of training a militia. Officials have also accused party members of taking part in a series of bombings that targeted government officials and churches.

Traditional beliefs

Zanzibar is a semi-autonimous archipelago off the coast of Tanzania, with its own legislature and president. While the majority of Tanzanians follow traditional beliefs or Christianity, the islands' residents are predominantly Muslim.

The ruling Chama Cha Mapunduzi party has dominated politics in Tanzania and Zanzibar since the two countries unified in 1963. The ruling party won re-election in 2000 in an election that international observers said was deeply flawed.

The Civic United Front has condemned the recent spate of bombings and threatened legal action on Tuesday against government officials who accuse opposition politicians of involvement in terrorist acts, without producing evidence.

Bimani also reiterated the party's complaints about a government programme that provides paramilitary training to civilian volunteers at army and police camps across the island. He said the volunteer self-defence units are essentially ruling party militia.

Government officials insist the units are politically neutral and provide added security to the islands. A bill recently introduced in Zanzibar's parliament would give the volunteers the power to arrest suspected criminals.

- SAPA